SOME BIBLE HISTORY

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SOME BIBLE HISTORY

This history lesson was written in answer to a Letter published in my then local paper 1/25/94 espousing Secular Humanism and demeaning Christianity. Conservative Christians, Jews, Moslems, and several other sects share a common biblical and religious foundation stretching back to even the foundations of time. Written records of social interaction and historical events common to virtually all of mankind are preserved in the Bible.

Some historians have contended writing was unknown even as recently as Moses’ time. Thus, old testament books making up the foundations of our Bible, the Jewish Torah, and the Koran were merely oral legends handed down by tradition and subject to the errors of any rumor. Confounding that theory, during the past 50 years Middle East excavations have uncovered THOUSANDS of books written on clay and stone tablets which antedate Moses by centuries, perhaps millenniums. Archaeologists can now see even the earliest Biblical events were contemporarily written.

Pre-flood writings have also been found and identified in the ruins of Ur, Kish, and Fara. Pre-Abrahamic libraries have also been found in the tells of Nippur, Lagash, Sippar, and Obeid located along the Euphrates within Iraq near the border of Kuwait. Many tablets predate Egypt a 1000 years or more. Some of these artifacts are now in the University Museum of Pennsylvania and Oriental Institute of Chicago; others are in the Louvre, the British Museum, and the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford, England. The Code of Hammurabi (a contemporary of Abraham) is an 8’x 2’x 18″ stone written more than 4000 years ago testifying to very advanced literary skills.

None of these ancient pictographic writings have disputed any of the tales, stories, or events of our modern Bible. Many tablets contain remarks, inscriptions, pictures, and descriptions of events actually confirming Biblical history. It is well known many peoples have traditions paralleling the great flood, even the Chinese. It is also well known that every religion with a traceable history has an indisputable monotheistic tradition as its foundation. Even Mayan history traces the beginning of the world to the “Sun God” who made the universe. All evidence points to historical parallelism suggesting and supporting authenticity except to the willfully ignorant. .

Christianity builds on those traditions and historical data and is based upon a man named Jesus whose life was chronicled by the Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians of his day. I’ve read that many historical documents still exist written during that time referring to the trial, scourging, and crucifixion of Christ and/or the events surrounding his physical death .

Christianity, Judaism, Islam and their various schisms all share the same founding histories, lessons, and core beliefs. ALL Judao-Christian and many other religions share the common idea of life after earthly existence and eventually answering to that ultimate entity, that higher power known as GOD, our Lord and creator, for all our actions and deeds here on earth.

Knowing death brings one face to face with his maker, judge, and savior gives Christians considerable incentive to lead morally correct lives. Few people relish ideas of eternal, everlasting damnation though many (Christian and otherwise) believe, hope, and pray for eventual rewards thought of as Heaven. Christians know without doubt the existence of absolute right and wrong.

For Secular Humanism, morality is what must be done or avoided at the moment to prevent personal injury, nothing more. For Humanists, morality is neither absolute nor constant, neither black nor white, but exists as various inconsistent changeable shades of grey. Humanists fear only the immediate penalty and there is no right nor wrong. Situational ethics originated with humanism.

Considering the above, with which philosophical group would you rather belong and with which people would you rather associate? Which kind represents your personal hopes, aspirations, and expectations and which exemplify the things you value and believe, Humanists or Christians ?

A retired professional Aviator, Air Traffic Supervisor, writer and Conservative Christian. I've been writing since college, raced cars and motorcycles, flew general aviation aircraft, worked for the FAA for 27 years, work on computers, work with youth at my church, study history (particularly Amerindian and the western movement) and biblical subjects. I write on several blogs, am published in local newspapers and, occasionally, write articles for national distribution though I am really trying to enjoy my retirement. Having little use for socialists (democrats) nor fools, I am occasionally controversial but rarely wrong.